That Hour

Between 2:30 and 7 every weekday, this was my life: pick up my kids from school, provide a quick snack to fuel up, drive one of them to rowing practice, walk the dog, start dinner, pick up the other one from tennis practice, pick up the first from rowing practice (sometimes if I got there a few minutes early, I could walk along the marina and see birds and seals, a moment of silence and reflection), put dinner on the table, eat.

Now, with the boys away at college, I find myself at loose ends when it comes to the end of the day, before evening begins. (Evenings are easy; clean up after eating to some music, dance a little, settle in and watch or read.). Before you all email me and say, that’s when I work out! Yeah, yeah. I know, and I’m just not going to respond to that.

During these hours, I’ve taken to — drum roll — painting by numbers. Not only does this activity (non-activity) empty my mind completely, allowing only for the search for numbers and their corresponding colors, I get to put on music, and lately, I’ve been listening, intentionally, to music that is meaningful to me.

And what is that (you ask, ever so curious)? First, RHIANNON GIDDENS. Rhiannon received the MacArthur “Genius” Award a couple years ago, and that’s not for nothin’. She is an incredible, soaring singer, yes, but she has taken on ethnomusicology projects that trace the origins of the banjo and songs to African American heritage and culture. She is preserving that culture and has formed groups of like-minded musicians to play and perform with. She plays, like, a million instruments you’ve never heard of, which form the basis of Americana music. AND, she was busking (!) outside Crypto.com Arena where the Grammy’s were held this year, before she herself was to appear, and people were just walking by her, and SHE DIDN’T CARE! She was just playing for the public, for free! That’s a woman after my own heart. I saw her perform at the Disney Center several years ago and she rocked my world, and likely yours too, if you were there.

One of those like-minded artists that Rhiannon performs with is ALISON RUSSELL, who actually seems to be more well-known than Rhiannon, due to her hit song “Nightflyer.” Alison wrote it, and also “Persephone,” in which she recounts running away from home as a teen after being physically abused to a lover’s house. It is a profound piece of art about freeing oneself from pain, if only for a moment, and getting lost in a lover’s embrace before going “back to the harsh light/back to the cold street.” Alison is from Montreal and speaks and sings in French also, and has sung duets with so many others. She supports so many other artists singing background when she can be in the foreground, which I see as a generous and communal spirit.

And then there’s my long-time favorite, DAR WILLIAMS. Dar is more of a contemporary folk singer rather than Americana (no banjos or yodeling). I once saw Dar when I was hugely pregnant, at the now-defunct Hotel Cafe, where you had to sit on the floor. That’s how much I like her. Anyway, when my boys were about ten, I took them to see her at McCabe’s, and after the show, we stayed behind to chat with her, and she could not have been more gracious. I quipped that they had heard her perform before, in utero, and without a beat, she said to them, “oh, so I must have sounded familiar?” Her music is that hard-to-achieve mix of poignant and funny. Dar also has written a book (see, this is a blog about writing!) about building community, from her observations of being on the road and visiting small towns.

So my hour is filled. Please don’t call me during that time, I’m busy being inspired by a group of extraordinary artists and people.